Rules of Mah Jong Rules of Mah Jong The American Casino Guide has over $1,000 in money-saving coupons from all over the country! <a href=' target='_blank'><img src=' border='0' alt=''></a> To play Mah Jongg, one needs to collect different combinations of tiles. In Mah Jongg these combinations are known as Chows, Pungs and Kongs. A Chow is a consecutive sequence of three tiles of the same suit. A Pung is three identical tiles of the same suit. A Kong is four identical tiles of the same suit. You need four people to play, one to represent each of the four winds, North, South, East, and West. The significance of the Wind of the Round (and your own Wind) is that if you collect three or four tiles (a Pung or a Kong) of either of these Winds your score will be higher. The player who is East Wind starts the Game. Each player's Hand should always have thirteen tiles, and when it is the turn of the player, they are dealt a fourteenth tile. The player can choose to keep the tile that has just been dealt or can discard the tile. Therefore, players always have thirteen tiles.

The object of the game is to go Mah Jong, or collect fourteen tiles. This consists of four combinations of three (Chow or Pung) or four (Kong) tiles and a pair of identical tiles. All tiles are arranged in the shape of a square wall. Each player is dealt 13 tiles from the wall except the East player, who gets 14. Next, the East Wind player discards a tile to start the game. If you have two or three tiles on your stake identical to the tile discarded by another player you can call out "pung" or "kong" and pick up this tile. Also if a tile is discarded by the player sitting to your left and you can make a sequence of three tiles, call out chow and you can pick up the discarded tile as soon as it is placed in the middle. Just as long as no other player wants to use the same discarded tile for a better combination, you can have the tile and the combination you have made with this tile must be displayed above your stake for everyone to see. Each time you pick up a tile you must discard a tile.

The hand ends when a person has Mah Jong, and scores are added up, or when the wall runs out, in which the hand is replayed without scoring. Scoring Pungs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of any suit 2 4 1 or 9 of any suit 4 8 Any Wind or Dragon 4 8 Pungs must consist of three identical tiles of the same suit. Scoring Kongs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of any suit 8 16 1 or 9 of any suit 16 32 Any Wind or Dragon 16 32 Kongs must consist of four identical tiles of the same suit. Scoring the Pair that Completes the Hand Tiles Points Pair of any Dragon 2 Pair of player's own Wind 2 Pair of Wind of the Round 2 The pair that completes the hand must consist of two identical tiles. No other score values are given for pairs that complete a hand other than those given in the table above. Scoring Flower and Season Tiles Each Flower or Season tile scores 4 points.

Bonus Scores Applied to Winner's Hand Only Tiles Points For going Mah Jongg 20 Winning with a tile dealt from the Wall 2 Winning with only possible tile 2 Winning with a Standing Hand 100 Winning with last tile dealt from the Wall 10 Winning with a Loose Tile 10 For having no Chows in the Hand 10 For having no scoring value in the Hand 10 If there are doubles in the winning hand, add bonuses before the score is doubled.

Doubles Scores Applied to All Player's Hands Tiles Doubles Pung or Kong of player's own Wind 1 Double Pung or Kong of Wind of the Round 1 Double Pung or Kong of any Dragon 1 Double Player's own Flower or Season 1 Double Hand entirely of one suit, with Winds and/or Dragons 1 Double Hand entirely of ones and nines, with Winds and/or Dragons 1 Double Hand entirely of one suit, without Winds and Dragons 3 Doubles Hand entirely of ones and nines, without Winds and Dragons 3 Doubles Hand entirely of Winds and Dragons 3 Doubles All Four Flowers or Seasons 3 Doubles Doubles Scores Applied to Winner's Hand Only Tiles Doubles Mah-Jong - British Rules - Beginners - Stage 2 First, determine who is to be North, South, East and West Wind. If there are 3 players they choose from 3 winds, which must include East. Stage 2 - Introducing the Winds and some Scoring The game is changed to introduce the Winds and the correct way to deal out the tiles. Playing the game Play is started by East Wind discarding one of his tiles. The game then continues as previously described until someone goes Mah-Jong.

There is no scoring if the game is drawn. Note that an exposed set is one that has been punged or chowed and placed on the table for the other players to see. A concealed set is one that remains in the hand until the end of the game. After Mah-Jong has been declared each player places his hand on the table. The tiles of exposed pungs are all set face-up. A concealed pung has the middle tile turned face-down. Scoring Each player is given some paper to record his score. It should show two columns headed “Paid” and “Received”. Some more paper to add up the scores is also useful. No points are scored for chows (exposed or concealed). For the player who goes Mah-Jong He receives 20 points. Another 2 points are given if the winning tile was drawn from the wall. Pairs of Honour tiles 2 points are scored for a pair of Dragons, for a pair of East Winds (the prevailing wind) or for a pair of the player’s own wind.

A pair of Dragons A pair of East Winds A pair of the player’s own wind Pung of the player’s own Wind Pung of the East Wind Pung of Dragons First, work out the basic score for each player as follows: Then, double each player’s basic score for each of the following types of honour tile pungs. So if a player has a basic score of 10 points and gets 2 doubles, his final score is 40 points. If the player who is East Wind collects a pung of East Winds then that counts as 2 doubles; one because it’s the player’s own wind and one because it’s the prevailing wind. Doubling could take a player’s score over 1,000 points. However, the score awarded is never more than this amount. There is a limit of 1,000 points to avoid excessive scores. Finally, settle up by exchanging points. The player who goes Mah-Jong is paid first by each player. He should note of the number of points won in the “Received” column and the other players should note their losses in the “Paid” column. The players who didn’t go Mah-Jong then exchange points based on the differences in their scores.

When you’ve stop playing the columns can be summed. Next session If the player who was East Wind declared Mah-Jong, or the game was drawn, then he remains East Wind. If another player declared Mah-Jong, the winds rotate in an anti-clockwise fashion so that the player who was South Wind now becomes East Wind. When there are fewer than four players, East Wind always exists. A limited form of scoring is introduced. This changes the nature of the game. Rather than simply aiming to go Mah-Jong, the goal is to obtain more points than anyone else. It’s reckoned over one or more sessions. A session ends when someone goes Mah-Jong or the game is drawn. These changes are added to the previous rules, replacing some as indicated. The aim of the game The winner is the player with the most points after one or more sessions. Each player becomes one of the four Winds: North, South, East and West. East Wind has special significance and will be the Prevailing Wind. © 2008 Peter Gregory Mah Jong Rules Mah Jong Rules Traditional Chinese Style If you would like to print out these rules for reference purposes, go ahead; neither the background, the navigation bar, nor this text will print.

Before You Begin Set a limit to the maximum number of points that one player may have to pay to another on any given round, typically 1000, though 500 and 1500 are also common. Designate one player as the East, who will be the first dealer. Everyone else around the table is assigned a corresponding cardinal direction. The prevailing wind is initially set to East as well. Setup Building the Wall Place all the tiles face-down on the table and shuffle them. Then, build them into a square structure known as the Wall. If you have Flowers and Seasons (for a total of 144 tiles), then each side will be eighteen tiles long; if you don't (for a total of 136 tiles), then each side will be seventeen tiles long. In either case, it is two tiles high and one tile deep. Place the tiles face-down with the long axis of the tile prependicular to the long axis of the section of wall it's in. Breaking the Wall The current East rolls the dice, and counts around the table to determine a player, who then rolls the dice again and counts that many tiles from the end of his or her section of wall.

Staring with East, each player in turn takes four tiles at a time from the wall (a section two tiles wide and two tall), repeating until everyone has twelve tiles. East then takes the next tile from the edge of the wall, and the tile two over. Each other player then takes one tile, leaving the tile under the last tile East took as the next tile to be drawn when the game actually begins. The seventh pair of tiles from the other end of the wall is taken up, and a tile is placed on top of the last and third-to-last pairs in the wall. These fourteen tiles separated from the rest of the Wall form the Dead Wall. Gameplay Object of the Game The object is to collect a set of fourteen tiles grouped into four melds of three tiles each and a matched pair. The melds can be either three identical tiles, known as a Pung, or a straight of three tiles of one suit marked with consecutive numbers, known as a Chow.

(Actually, sets of four identical tiles, known as a Kong, can also be used to make up the melds, but they're described in more detail below, as they're more complicated.) Standard Order of Play The player whose turn it currently is will have fourteen tiles in his or her hand (actually, they may have more, due to Kongs, as explained below), while all others will have thirteen. East has fourteen to start with, and goes first. If they somehow have four melds and a pair, this termed a "Hand from Heaven", and East instantly wins the round, scoring the maximum number of points possible. Normally, however, East must simply continue as with a normal turn. On a player's turn, he or she will have fourteen tiles, and must choose one tile and discard it face up into the courtyard in the center of the wall. If the next player could form a Chow using that tile and two from his hand, then he may call it, and place it and the other two tiles face up in front of his hand. It is then his turn.

Alternately, if any player has two tiles identical to the one discarded, he may call it for a Pung, and place the three tiles face up in front of his hand, and it is then that player's turn, regardless whose turn it would normally have been next. Additionally, if another player has the other three of the discarded tile, he may claim it for a Kong, and place all four tiles face up in front of his hand. He then draws a loose tile from the top of the dead wall, and will have one more tile in his hand for the rest of the round. If this was the last loose tile, he takes up the last two tiles from the regular wall and places them on top of the dead wall as was done during setup. A claim for a Pung or a Kong takes precedence over a claim for a Chow. (Multiple claims for a Pungs or Kongs cannot happen, as there are only four of any given tile.) If no one wants the discarded tile, then it is out of play for the rest of the round, and the next player simply draws a tile (without showing it to the other players) from the front of the wall, and then takes his or her turn.

If a player forms a Chow or a Pung using only tiles drawn from the wall, he should keep it hidden in his hand until he can win. Not only is it worth more points this way, but other players don't know how close to victory he is, and he can still arrange those tiles into other melds if it becomes convenient, unlike exposed melds on the table. If a player gets four of a kind in his hand, he must reveal it if he wants to claim it as a Kong (otherwise, he wouldn't have enough tiles to be able to win). He shows the Kong to the other players, then places it on the table with the two outer tiles face up and the two inner tiles face down, to indicate that he completed it entirely from the wall, thus earning more points. Also, if a player previously formed an exposed Pung from another player's discard, and he later draws from the wall the fourth of that tile, he may add it to the Pung, turning it into an exposed Kong. This is not without some risk, as detailed below. If a player needs only one tile to win, then he may claim that tile from any discard, even if it is to complete a Chow or the pair.

This is referred to as "fishing", and a claim to win the game takes precedence over any other claim. If two players could win with the same discard, then the one whose turn would come next in the normal turn order gets to take it and win the hand. Also, a player who is fishing may claim a tile added to a Pung to turn it to a Kong, and thus win (and gets bonus points for doing so). If a player draws a flower or a season, the tile is revealed and immediately set to the side of the player's hand. It does not count towards the number of tiles in the hand, and will provide bonus points at the end of the round. It is immediately replaced by drawing a loose tile, as described in the section on Kongs above. When a player has a complete hand of melds and a pair, he may declare it and show it to the other players. This ends the hand. The player that went out calculates his score using the following table: Tile Combinations Going Out by Robbing a Kong x 2 The winner scores points as per the first part of the table, then finds every double for which he is eligible, and multiplies his score by all of these.

The other players also calculate their scores, though they never get any doubles, and pay the difference to the one who went out. The current East player always pays and receives twice the appropriate amount. If East won the current round, then he is East again next round. If not, then all the wind assignments rotate one person around the table. When the original East player becomes East again, the prevailing wind is changed to the next wind. When the prevailing wind is East again, the game is over. (Thus, a game will have at least 16 hands.) Additionally, aside from the normal way of winning, there are certain special hands, known as limit hands, that automatically earn the maximum, or limit, number of points. These vary from place to place and playing circle to playing circle, and are often hard to remember, though they follow general trends. In my playing circle, however, we've created a standardized formula for limit hands. Any hand that totals 14 tiles and is made up entirely of non-overlapping groups from the following table can be used to win a round and is awarded the limit number of points (except as noted) if any part is exposed, and twice that if fully concealed.

Group Chinese Culture - Mahjong - How to Play? (5) Building the walls 136 tiles only excluding 4 flower tiles and 4 season titles . Each player builds a 2 tier "Wall" in front of them, each consists of 34 tiles (17 blocks). (see picture below) The middle square space is known as the "Well" for unwanted tiles thrown with face up. (6) Rounds and changing round Minimum length of play:- 4 rounds. (East round, South round, West round and North round.) e.g. When East Round goes through East, South, West and North Position and the "Jong" returns to the East position player, this round will become South Round......etc Normally 4 games in each round, making a total of 16 games (or more if repeating hands). (8) Position a) The position of the players is denoted by "Directions" counting anti-clockwise starting from East through South, West and North.

b) When one player (except the "Jong") wins ("Mahjong" or "Sheek-Woo") the Lower Player will become "Jong" and the players' position rotates relatively:- As according to the above direction diagram, Lower Player will become East position & throws the dice, Opposite player will become South position, Upper Player will become West position and the "Jong" will become North position. (new position - see diagram below) c) If the "Jong" wins the game ("Mahjong" or "Sheek-woo"), the position remains the same and start a new game. Throws three dice into the "Well" after building the walls. a) Decide the starting position:- Using the sum of the dice, counting anti-clockwise from the player (see (a) in diagram below) who throws the dice to decide the starting position of the "East Round". If (a) throws the dice and the sum is 4:- counting anti-clockwise from (a) to 4 to decide the starting position of each round. The starting position of East Round - East.

When the dice "throwing sequence" returns to the starting position again after a Round (each round goes through East, South, West and North Position), the name of next Round will be South Round, subsequently followed by West and North. Picking of the titles:- Based on the total of dice equal to 4. (see diagram below) (1) Counting anti-clockwise from the "Jong" (East), the sum of the dice would end at the Upper Player's position (North). (2) Counting 4 from the right hand side of the Upper Player's "Wall". (clockwise) (3) The "Jong" (East) picks the next 4 tiles (2 blocks - "ab" as shown above) followed by the South, West and North players (4 titles each), repeat until each player has 12 titles. (arrange tiles facing towards each player) (4) The"Jong" (East) take one tile from top tier, skips 1 block and take one tile on top (E below), the succeeding players will take one tile in turn.

(see diagram below) (5) The"Jong" (East) has 14 tiles, the rest of the players have 13 tiles each. (see diagram below) (6) Special case:- If the sum of the dice is 17 a) "Jong" Counts from (East) anti-clockwise up to 17, the starting "Wall" is in front of "Jong" (East). b) From right hand side of the East "Wall" counting to the end are 17, then the starting point is from the Upper Player (North) where the "Jong" will pick up two blocks (4 titles). (see ab below) c) The "Jong" (East) discards one unwanted tile face up in the "Well", then Lower Player (South) picks up one tile (see S in diagram below ) and throws one unwanted tile into the "Well".

d) The unwanted tile may be good for one player to make up a set as in the following way: (1) "Pung" (3 identical tiles) "Pung" is shouted out, collect the tile from the "Well" put three identical tiles face up, place them at his/her corner and throw out one unwanted tile. (Any players can claim) "Pung " (2) "Sheung" (a run of 3 tiles in same suit) "Sheung" can only be allowed for the Lower Player (South) to pick up in order to make up a run in the same suit. When"Sheung" is called, player shows three tiles and throws one unwanted tile. (3) "Kong" (4 identical tiles) If the player has 3 identical tiles in hand which match the unwanted tile, "Kong" is shouted, put four tiles face up, place them at his/her corner, and then pick one tile from the very end of the "Wall" then discard one unwanted tile. Any player can have "Kong" regardless of their position.

If a player picks up an identical tile from the "Wall" matching the other 3 tiles in hand, face up 4 tiles, pick another tile from the very end of the "Wall", and throw one unwanted tile. (4) If a player wants the unwanted tile to win "Mahjong" or "Sheek-Woo", then he/she have priority to win regardless of other players "Pung", "Kong" or "Sheung". (5) Priority "Kong" has priority over "Sheung". "Pung" has priority over "Sheung". e) If the unwanted tile is not useful to any player, the next player will pick up one tile from the "Wall", rearranges the tiles and throws one unwanted tile. Then followed by the next player. f) A game is finished when someone wins "Sheek-Woo" or "Mahjong" If "Jong" wins the game, the position remain the same. If other player win ("Sheek-Woo" or "Mahjong"), the lower position will become the "Jong", then throws dice and the rest of the position will shift relatively.

g) When there are only 14 tiles (7 blocks) left on the "Wall", the game has to be repeated with the same "Jong" and "Direction" positions. The Rules of Mah Jong or Mah Jongg The Rules of Mah Jong (Chinese & British versions) Like many other traditional games, there are a wide variety of forms of Mah Jong which makes things somewhat difficult for anyone trying to find the definitive set of rules. The first rules given here are based on the original Chinese game which is the simplest and probably the most skillful form. Also given are additional rules for the British game. This version differs slightly to the typical Chinese game because only one chow is allowed per hand and the Chinese game has fewer "special hands". Some will find the British game more interesting than the Chinese game but the Chinese game is more elegant and traditional. Both games differ significantly from the typical style of play performed in the USA,where a large and complicated set of "special hands" have been invented beyond the initial Chinese set and where a player cannot go Mah Jong with more than one suit in hand.

It is also more strategic than the Japanese style of play which is essentially a race to be the first to go out because the only person who gets paid is the one who goes Mah Jong. We also give a version of Mah Jong for 3 players playing in a triangle. See also our quality Mah Jong sets . Equipment Basic Equipment A set of Mah Jong tiles consists of 144 tiles typically around 30 x 20 x 15mm. Traditionally, they are made from bone or ivory but modern sets are usually plastic. The tiles comprise: 36 Circle tiles in 4 sets of 9 tiles numbered 1- 9. The picture on each shows the appropriate number of circles. 36 Character tiles in 4 sets of 9 tiles numbered 1- 9. The pictures show the Chinese symbol for the number represented. 36 Bamboo tiles in 4 sets of 9 tiles numbered 1- 9. The picture on each shows the appropriate number of bamboos except for the One of Bamboos which often is denoted by a sparrow or rice-bird and doesn't feature a bamboo at all.

1, 5, 7 and 9 of Bamboos are represented by a picture of both red and green bamboos. The other bamboo tiles are represented by green bamboos only. 16 Wind tiles - 4 tiles for each of the 4 winds. 12 Dragon tiles - 4 Red dragons denoted by a bright red character, 4 Green dragons denoted by a bright green character and 4 White dragons which are traditionally denoted by a completely blank tile. However, some sets denote the white dragon with a capital 'P' which stands for 'Pai', meaning white or pure. 4 Flower tiles - The Four Flowers are numbered 1 - 4 and are optional - if used, they give bonus points when drawn. Depiction of the flowers varies hugely between sets but the most common traditionally are Plum blossom, Orchid, Chrysanthemum and Bamboo. 4 Season tiles - The Four Seasons are numbered 1 - 4 and are optional - if used they give bonus points when drawn. Depiction of the seasons varies hugely between sets and they are often not recognisable as a season by people who can't read Chinese. Circles, Characters and Bamboos are known as "suits".

The suit tiles numbered 2 - 8 are known as the "minor" tiles. The remaining suit tiles, 1 and 9 are known as the "major" tiles. The Wind and Dragon tiles are known as "honour" tiles. In addition to the tiles, two dice are required. The 1 and 4 are red on traditional Chinese dice; the remaining numerals are black. Optional Equipment In fact, the tiles and dice are all that is required to play the game and these rules have been written as if no other equipment is available. However, other equipment does usually form part of a set. The following can be used at the discretion of the players if available: Sets often have some spare blank tiles to be used to replace lost tiles. Some Joker tiles are also commonly included. They are denoted by a Chinese horse and are used for the play of another game called Ghoulash. 4 racks are a useful accessory to hold each player's tiles. More expensive sets include four special counters denoting the four winds. These are used, instead of the standard four winds tiles to decide who sits where and are then placed in a special box called a Tong-box with the uppermost tile showing the prevailing wind for each round.

Finally most sets come with some tally sticks which are used for scoring. The score can be kept using any medium, of course. Two other popular options are money, for those of a gambling bent, or paper and pencil. There are many varieties of scoring sticks. It doesn't really matter what values are assigned to each stick as long as it's agreed up front and each player starts off with the same number of each type of stick. For the Japanese or American style games, higher values will need to be assigned but for the Chinese and British versions below, here are typical values to assign for two common stick combinations: No. Sticks Preparation Seating One of each of the the four wind tiles are placed face-down, shuffled and each player takes one. The players seat themselves according to this draw in the clockwise order N - W - S - E. Notice that these are NOT the standard compass positions. East the prevailing wind and the key position since this player starts, scores double and pays double for the round.

For the each subsequent round, the positions change in one of two ways: If East wind went out in the previous round, then the positions stay the same and the player who was East wind remains the same for another round If one of the other winds went out in the previous round, the wind positions rotate in an anti-clockwise fashion so that the player who was South wind in the previous round becomes East wind. In a complete session of Mah Jong, which might take a number of hours to complete, once each player has been East wind, South becomes the prevailing wind. Once South is finished, the prevailing wind becomes West and finally North. The session ends when each player has played as the prevailing North wind. Obviously, it isn't necessary to complete a session - playing a set number of rounds or to a target score is just as good. Building the Wall The Flowers and Seasons are not normally used in the Chinese game and these rules assume that they are not used. All the tiles are shuffled thoroughly face down by South and North in a ritual that is called "The twittering of the sparrows". Once done, each player takes 34 tiles and positions them in a wall, 2 tiles high and 17 tiles long.

The tiles should have the long sides and be face down. Each wall should lie in front of each player running from left to right. The four walls are then pushed together to form a square symbolising the Great Wall of China. It is important to ensure that the walls have no gaps and that they touch at the corners so that any lurking dragons or evil spirits are prevented from entering. Breaking the Wall Next, East throws the dice to decide who breaks the wall. East counts the players, starting with East, and working anti-clockwise according to the number thrown. The player who sits where the count ends, throws the dice again and adds the total of both throws and then uses this total to count along his wall from right to left. Where the count ends, is where the player breaks the wall, which is done by removing the pair of tiles at that point and placing the top tile on top of the previous tile and the lower tile in a position two positions further anti-clockwise. These two tiles are called "loose tiles". So, by example, if East throws an 11, West will be the chosen player.

If West throws the dice again and gets 8, the total thrown will be 19 in which case West will count along all 17 of the tile pairs in the West wall and then finish on the second pair of tiles in the South wall. West would then remove these two tiles and place the top one on the first (right-most) pair of tiles in the South wall. The lower tile would be placed on the 16th tile in West wall. The Deal Starting after the break (i.e. continuing in a clockwise direction around the wall), four tiles are dealt to each player in turn starting with East and working anti-clockwise until each player has 12 tiles. Next, and continuing in the same direction around the wall, the first and third tiles on the top row are dealt to East, the first on the bottom row to South, the next tile on the top row to West and the next lower tile to North. That completes the deal. East finishes with fourteen tiles while the other players have thirteen tiles each. The Game Objective A player generally tries to collect sets of tiles. The 3 basic sets are as follows: A Pung - a set of 3 identical tiles e.g.

3 x Red Dragons, 3 x Two circles A Kong - a set of 4 identical tiles. e.g. 4 x Eight of Bamboos or 4 x North Winds. A Chow - a run of 3 tiles in the same suit. A Chow does not score and so is only helpful because it can contribute to a hand that allows a player to call Mah Jong. The primary aim of the game is to collect such tiles that allow a player to call "Mah Jong" and go out. In order to do this, a player must achieve one of the following: A pair, and 4 Pungs, Kongs or Chows A special hand However, the overall aim of the game is to amass a greater score than one's opponents and it should be remembered that it is possible to do this over a series of rounds without ever calling Mah Jong. The Play The first turn, is made by East who discards one tile by placing it face-up on the table inside the remainder of the walls. Each subsequent turn is made by a player taking a tile, optionally playing a tile combination and then discarding a tile. However, which player takes the turn and from where the tile is taken, varies.

After each discard, any player who has 2 or 3 tiles that match the discarded tile may take the next turn by calling Mah Jong, Pung or Kong. Such a player, takes the discard and plays the resulting Pung or Kong on the table in front of him or, in the case of Mah Jong, takes the discard and declares all tiles in hand, thus finishing the game. If no player calls Mah Jong, Pung or Kong, then the player to the right of the player who just discarded takes the next turn. This player may, if he has 2 tiles that can be matched with the discarded tile to form a Chow, call a Chow (the player must then take the discard and play the resulting Chow). Otherwise, this player simply takes a tile from the open end of the wall. If possible and desired, he can then declare a make a Pung, Kong or Chow by laying the combination face down in front of him. The player always finishes a turn by discarding one tile, placing it face-up on the table inside the remainder of the walls. Whenever a Kong is declared, the player must lay all the tiles forming the Kong on the table and immediately take a tile from the wall.

A declared Pung can can be converted into a Kong but only using a tile taken from the wall. A Kong can only be made using a discarded tile, if the other three tiles are in hand (concealed). Tiles that have been discarded, unless they are picked up in the following turn, are dead tiles and take no further part in the game. Finishing If all the tiles from the wall are drawn then the game is declared a draw and no scores are made. The tiles are shuffled again and game is restarted with the same player as East wind. Once a player has reached the point where a player needs one more tile go out, that player declares "one for Mah Jong". This alerts the other players to be more careful with their discards and the player in question is said to be "calling" or "fishing". A player who takes a tile from the wall that makes a completed Mah Jong hand, declares Mah Jong and lays down all tiles. Any player who can form a finished Mah Jong hand with the tile just discarded can call Mah Jong, take the discarded tile and go out. It can happen that one player can call Mah Jong with the discarded tile and another can call Pung or Kong with the discarded tile.

In this case the player with Mah Jong takes precedence. It can also happen that more than one player can make Mah Jong with the discarded tile. In this case, the player nearest the right of the player who discarded, wins the dispute, takes the tile and goes Mah Jong. A player cannot declare a Kong and make Mah Jong because a replacement tile must always be taken when declaring a Kong. A player cannot declare Mah Jong and then discard a tile. In the case where a player takes a tile from the wall and plays it on an already exposed Pung to form a Kong, if another player can use that tile to go out, this player can "Rob the Kong" in order to go Mah Jong. The player simply takes the tile just played and uses it to play a set of his own tiles to go out. Robbing the Kong is only allowed on exposed Kongs with one exception - a player can Rob a hidden Kong in order to complete the "Thirteen Unique Wonders" special hand. Special Hands Special hands are alternative target sets of tiles that a player can go Mah Jong with. The original Chinese game allowed only a few special hands but some Western derivatives controversially include many more.

Special Hand Name Pungs/Kongs of any one suit and a pair. No Winds, Dragons or Chows. Double three times The player who went Mah Jong is then paid by the other players the amount scored by his hand. This means that the player who gets Mah Jong always wins the round, even if other players have scored greater amounts. If East wins, the others pay double. If not, East pays double. Each losing player pays any other losing player with a greater value hand, the difference between the two hands, with East paying and/or receiving double the difference. The following is based on the game rules published by the British Mah-Jong Association. Game Play The game is played in the same way as the Chinese game with the following changes. Flowers and Seasons are part of the rules (see below) although expert players may prefer to omit them. Each player may declare only one Chow per round. In addition to the 10 special hands shown for the Chinese game, the following special hands are also legitimate. Special Hand Name Playing with Flowers and Seasons Use of the Flower and Season tiles is optional. Flowers and Seasons are rarely used by the Chinese or expert players because they increase the element of luck and decrease the element of skill.

The Kong Box During the preparation stage, an additional step occurs after the The last preparatory action is to create the "Kong Box", sometimes known as the "Dead Wall". Starting from the break in the wall, and this time counting anti-clockwise, the first six piles of tiles, making a total of fourteen tiles including the loose tiles, are separated slightly from the remainder of the wall. These tiles are the Kong Box and are used exclusively to provide replacements for Flower, Season and Kong declarations. Building The Wall The wall built in front each player should be 18 tiles long, and consist of 36 tiles. During the game If a Flower or a Season tile is dealt to a player, then that player immediately declares this and replaces it from the Kong Box. Scoring Each Flower or Season counts 4 points. The following also double the basic score for any player: Holding player's own Flower (1=E,2=S,3=W,4=N) Double Two-Player Mah Jong This is good practice for beginners although not quite such a good game as the more typical version with 4 players. One player plays East, the other West.

The preliminaries are conducted in the same way as for the 4 player game, 4 walls are built and the game starts with East's discard. The game continues as with the standard game but with the following differences: No chows are allowed and therefore before either player can go Mah Jong, the player must gather four doubles or be entitled to the limit or half-limit score. When scoring, East Wind neither pays nor receives double. When scoring, the player going Mah Jong has a lower score than the player's opponent, the player with the Mah Jong receives the normal total score plus the difference between the scores. Three-Player Mah Jong There are two main ways to play three-player Mah Jong. One common way to play is with four walls but to have the North wind position as a 'dummy'. The alternative is to play with 3 walls in a triangle. The 'dummy' method results in a satisfactory game but there are a number of special rules that are required and Masters Traditional Games believes that the triangular game for three players is simpler and more elegant and so that is our recommendation. In South East Asia, Triangular Mah Jong is so popular that there are companies who make special triangular Mah Jong tables.

Triangular Mah Jong for 3 players eliminates the North position completely and the 4 North wind tiles are removed from the set before starting so that a set of 132 tiles are used. The walls therefore consist of 22 stacks (44 tiles) in a triangle shape and there are 3 hands in each round and 3 or 4 rounds as agreed. Other than that, the game is played in the same way as for 4 player Mah Jong. If flowers and seasons are included, one season and one flower is removed, usually Winter and Bamboo tiles so that 138 tiles are used and each wall consists of 23 stacks (46 tiles). Mahjong Cheat Sheet Mahjong Cheat Sheet Wind (E, S, W, N) and Dragon (White, Green Red) Tiles: Sets The object of the game is to arrange the tiles into "sets". Each player starts off with 13 tiles. With each turn you get to pick up a 14th tile, and then discard one from your hand. If you are the first player to collect 4 "sets" of three tiles plus a single pair of tiles, you win the hand.

The types of tiles you've collected determine how many chips the other players have to pay you. Next I'll describe the three types of "sets" - Chow, Pong, and Kong. CHOW... One type of "set" you can put together is called a Chow. This means a group of tiles (Characters, Sticks, or Balls) like the 3-4-5 of Sticks or 6-7-8 of Balls. Shown above is a Chow of the 1-2-3 of Balls. You can make a Chow from the fresh tiles you'll be picking up with each turn or from a tile discarded by the player on your Left IF (and only if) you are already holding 2 of the 3 needed tiles. Example - You are holding a 7 Balls and an 8 Balls. You may Chow the 6 or 9 Balls thrown by the player on your left. PONG... A second type of "set" is called a Pong. This means a group of three identical tiles of any suit. Shown above is a Pong made up of the 5 Sticks.

You can make a Pong from the fresh tiles you pick up, or from a tile discarded by ANY other player IF (and only if) you are already holding 2 of the 3 needed tiles. Example - You are holding a pair of the 9 Characters. You may Pong a 9 Character thrown by any other player. KONG... The last type of "set" is called a Kong. This means a group of all 4 identical tiles of any suit. Shown above is a Kong made up of the 5 of Characters. You can make a Kong from the fresh tiles you pick up or from a tile discarded by any other player IF (and only if) you are already holding 3 of the 4 needed tiles. This "set" still counts as if it were only 3 tiles. Its purpose is to create a simple way of making use of a 4th matching tile rather than forcing a player to discard it. Flowers These are the Red and Blue Flowers. There is only one of each. When you pick one up, it is automatically set aside and replaced by a regular tile.

When the hand is over, the winner gets one point if they have NO flowers at all, or one point for any flower whose value matches their Seat. For example, the South player hopes to get the '2' flowers. All 4 of the red-numbered or all 4 of the blue-numbered flowers are an additional point. Flower North Seating The four players sit around a square table, with each seat representing one of the four compass directions. This is often referred to as "facing the East (South, West, North) Wind". There is no small amount of opinion (even superstition) among some players as to which wind gives them the best luck in playing the game, so to be fair, the players need to find a mutually-acceptable method of determining who gets to sit in which seat. (You'll notice that the "wind" directions don't correspond with the true compass directions--they are symbolic names for the four wind directions, and this arrangement of East, South, West and North is used consistently throughout Mahjong.) Chinese Numbers Four Kongs and a pair Limit Knitting Seven pairs of tiles in any two out of the three suits. No Winds or Dragons.

Half Limit Triple Knitting Four sets of the three tiles in the different suits and a pair. No Winds or Dragons. Half Limit The Gates of Heaven A concealed Pung of Ones, a concealed Pung of Nines, a run from Two to Eight with one pair in the same suit. Limit Imperial Jade Pungs/Kongs of the green tiles and a pair. Green tiles are Green Dragons and Twos, Threes, Fours, Sixes and Eights of Bamboos. Limit Twofold Fortune Made by a player who declares a Kong, draws a tile which allows the declaration of another Kong and then draws a tile which allows the declaration of Mah Jong. Limit Pungs/Kongs of Winds/Dragons. No Suit tiles. Limit Concealed Pungs in one suit with Winds/Dragons and a pair. Limit Pungs/Kongs of Ones and Nines. Limit The Wriggling Snake A pair of Ones and a run from Two to Nine in the same suit, with each of the winds. Limit Pungs/Kongs of all three Dragons, another Pung/Kong and a pair. Limit Four Blessings Hovering Over The Door Pungs/Kongs of each of the four Winds with any pair.

Limit The Thirteen Unique Wonders One of each Dragon, one of each Wind, one of each One and one of each Nine. Any one of these tiles must be paired. Limit Mah Jong immediately made by East with the original fourteen tiles dealt to that player. Limit Earth's Blessing Mah Jong immediately made by West, North or South using the first discard made by East. Limit Gathering the Plum Blossom from the Roof The Plum Blossom is the Five of Circles. This is made by a player who draws a loose tile (the roof) as a replacement for a Kong, a Flower or a Season and that tile is the Plum Blossom which allows the player to go Mah Jong. Limit Plucking the Moon from the Bottom of the Sea The Moon is the One of Circles. This is made by a player who upon drawing the last tile from the wall finds that it is the Moon which allows the player to go Mah Jong. Limit

Question: In which game could you collect a 'Pung of East Winds'?
Answer: MAH-JONG